19 May 2016
19th May, 2016, Suva FIJI - It's all systems go from here.
That's the word from South Pacific Tourism Organisation acting Chief Executive Alisi Lutu said as buyers and sellers to the South Pacific Tourism Exchange flocked into the Gold Coast to finalise their registration and set up their booths.
Lutu said the advantage of having the meeting in Gold Coast was that Australia was the major source market for most of the 16 member nations of the South Pacific Tourism Organisation.
“The SPTE, is still in its young stages but as you can see very much in demand in the international scene,” she said.
“Our officers have been attending various global tourism events and even have our own South Pacific Specialist program which is aimed at making travel agents in distant source markets like the Americas,Europe and China to become specialists at marketing the Pacific.
“At the end of the day it adds value to our product which is about bringing in more tourists from around the world to visit and see our unique brand of tourism.”
Lutu said after visiting the Australian Tourism Exchange on Wednesday May 18, they would come back with some valuable lessons but also face the reality that the Australian market will always be larger and quite unique in its own way compared to the Pacific.
“Strategically we will benefit from holding the SPTE here as Australia is a major source market but its connectivity to the outside world is also outstanding,” she said.
“What is more important to us is the more than 60,000 people who rely on tourism to feed their families or for us to perform well here at the SPTE.”
The SPTE will open tomorrow morning at 10.00 am at the Seaworld Resort on the Gold Coast in Australia.
About SPTO
Established in 1983 as the Tourism Council of the South Pacific, the South Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO) is the mandated organisation representing Tourism in the region.
Its 18 Government members are American Samoa, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Nauru, Marshall Islands, New Caledonia, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and the People's Republic of China. In addition to government members, the South Pacific Tourism Organisation enlists a private sector membership base.
For more information, contact:
Robert Matau
South Pacific Tourism Organisation
0450529017
